Category Archives: All About Design

Inventory: Queen Margrethe’s Purple Hats

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Thanks, everyone, for your thoughtful words yesterday. I’m humbled and inspired to keep our millinery conversations here at Royal Hats going!  We’re going to do this today with a look at Queen Margrethe’s purple hats. At the start of this millennium, the Danish queen had several in rotation:

Embed from Getty Images

Since 2000, she has added four additional purple designs. Here they are, in order of introduction:

1.   2.  
Designer: unknown (likely Per Falk Hansen)
Introduced: April 16, 2000; April 16, 2000; January 15, 2012

3.   4.  
Designer: unknown (likely Per Falk Hansen)
Introduced: January 15, 2012; March 15, 2015

I’ll admit surprise that there are just four purple hats currently in Queen Margrethe’s wardrobe (so surprised that I triple checked my archive to make sure I’d not missed any!). This group certainly covers a range of shapes and shades, each with standout details – brims on #1 and #3 and trims on #2 and #4. This inventory also brings up an interesting question about hat #4: do you notice how close it is in colour and shape to the hat in the pre-2000 row (the photograph is from a 1992 visit to Norway)? I can’t shake the suspicion that it might have been updated with black feather and sequined trim and trotted out again in 2015.

What do you think of this quartet of purple hats?

Images from Getty as indicated; Tim Graham, Antony Jones, Antony Jones, Chris Jackson, and Elisabetta Villa via Getty

Most Realistic Flowers?

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A large percentage of royal hats we see are trimmed in flowers of some type. For this week’s discussion question, dearest readers, I’m wondering: which royal hat hosts the most realistic looking flower(s)?

Embed from Getty Images

Image from Getty as indicated

Inventory: Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie’s Yellow Hats

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Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie celebrates her 36th birthday today and to mark this, we’re taking a look at all of the yellow hats she has worn:

1.    2.
Designer: both are unknown
Introduced: June 18, 2016; May 25, 2018

We don’t see a lot of yellow hats worn on royal heads and while I’m not sure it’s Stéphanie’s best colour, I applaud the courage and confidence needed to wear such a stand-out colour.

Images from Valentin Dupont; Pierre Matgé via Belga

Inventory: Princess Marie’s Light Pink Hats

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On Saturday, February 6, Princess Marie of Denmark celebrated her 45th birthday. To mark this milestone, let’s take a closer look at all of the pale pink designs in her millinery closet. Here they are in order of introduction:

1.  2.  3.

Designer: all are unknown
Introduced: March 18, 2014; April 1, 2017; June 15, 2019

Princess Marie wears a hat or headpiece just a few times each year so it’s no surprise this collection is small. As far as fascinators go, the first two headpieces are good ones with lovely detail and scale; hat #3 is a charming design (adore the jaunty angle) that I look forward to seeing again.

What stands out to you about Princess Marie’s pale pink hat and headpieces?

Images from Ole Jensen / Corbis and Ole Jensen – Corbis / Corbis via Getty; and Chris Christopherson via the Danish Monarchy

Inventory: Crown Princess Mary’s Purple Hats

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Join me in wishing Crown Princess Mary a happy 49th birthday today with a look at her purple hats, shown below in order of introduction:

1.  2.
Designer: Susanne Juul; Philip Treacy
Introduced: July 27, 2004; December 6, 2004

3.   4.
Designer: Susanne Juul; Jane Taylor
Introduced: June 30, 2008; October 7, 2014 

I’m always fascinated when a dive into a particular royal closet turns up multiple hats of similar shape and colour- such is not the case here! These four designs are not only diverse in shape and scale, they also span the purple spectrum. For one who does not often wear hats, it’s a good mix.

What do you notice about Crown Princess Mary’s collection of purple hats?

Images from Getty as indicated; Julian Parker / UK Press via Getty; Corbis; Julian Parker / UK Press via Getty; Patrick van Katwijk via Corbis